Bangladesh Forces Kill Plane Hijack Suspect in Eight-Minute Raid
Bangladesh Says Armed Man Attempted to Hijack Biman Plane
(Bloomberg) -- The man who attempted to hijack a Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane bound for Dubai from Dhaka before he was killed by security forces was on a criminal watch list, an official said.
Bangladesh’s anti-terrorism agency identified the lone suspect in the hijack as Polash Ahmed, Rapid Action Battalion spokesman Mufti Mahmud Khan said by phone. His fingerprints matched the agency’s crime database.
Bangladesh security forces shot and killed Ahmed in a commando raid “that ended in eight minutes,” Major General Matiur Rahman said at a media briefing at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, also known as Chittagong.
The suspect had demanded to speak with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said.
The raid took place after security forces surrounded the plane on the tarmac, Somoy TV reported. The jet made an emergency landing around 5:40 pm local time in the southeastern port city of Chittagong, after the suspect warned that he had a gun, the BBC reported. All passengers and crew on board flight BG147 disembarked safely.
To contact the reporter on this story: Arun Devnath in Dhaka at adevnath@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arijit Ghosh at aghosh@bloomberg.net, Linus Chua, Ruth Pollard
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.